Feb 15, 2012

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Spamela Hamderson

Most recent appearance...From the Balcony Episode 19 (2006)
Appeared in book form in Muppet Snow White (2010)

Best known role...
Vivacious, buxom, idiotic female pig

WHO IS SPAMELA HAMDERSON?Spamela Hamderson is one of the most developed characters in Muppet history. Not developed as a character, of course, since she merely existed in a tertiary role on Muppets Tonight, but developed in other areas for sure. Her best known role was playing herself in the recurring sketch "Bay of Pigswatch," a parody of the popular Baywatch show.

In the sketches, Spamela's main function was being attractive. She was the target of Champ Schwimmer's (played by David Hoggselhoff) affection as well. Champ would spend most of the sketches trying to kiss Spamela or otherwise win her over, but was always foiled by the idiotic Andy and Randy Pig. Sometimes Spamela would be played against Miss Piggy in these sketches, making fools out of the men in the sketches who would go after Spamela even when Piggy was in mortal danger.

Spamela only appeared a few more times in notable moments during the run of Muppets Tonight. In Episode 106, when Tony Bennett guest starred, her dancing during Tony and Kermit the Frog's "Firefly" song was hot (literally). Dressed as a firefly, her costume caught fire midway through the song and it was up to Andy and Randy to extinguish her (you can guess how that worked out). Perhaps her most well known appearance came in Episode 107 in which Clifford, Sandra Bullock, and the rest of the Muppets had to keep the show's ratings above 50 or a madman would blow up the studio. In order to do this, they interrupted Ernest Pleth's "Wall Street Wonderings" sketch with Spamela dancing. Of course, Ernest couldn't resist and started dancing with her.

After Muppets Tonight ended, Spamela didn't appear at all until almost a decade later when she made a brief cameo in an episode of From the Balcony, a web show hosted by Statler and Waldorf on Movies.com. In the episode, Statler and Waldorf have set up their balcony as a beach house. At the end of the episode, Spamela saunters by in her buxom best, causing Statler and Waldorf to chase after her.

Spamela's biggest role ever came in print, not on screen, in the Muppet Snow White comic book series from BOOM! Studios in 2010. The story, written by Jesse Blaze Snider (who was instrumental in getting Spamela in the titular role), features Spamela as Snow White as she reacts to the other Muppets around her (notably Pepe the King Prawn and Bobo the Bear as her animal sidekicks, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem as the Seven Dwarfs, Kermit the Frog as the Prince, and Miss Piggy as the Evil Queen). Unfortunately, she spends the second half of the story in a coma... but luckily she gets to ride off with Pepe in the sunset at the end.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED SPAMELA HAMDERSON?
Have you seen Spamela Hamderson? Isn't that answer enough? Talk about reeling in the male viewers!
But really, Spamela would make an excellent foil for Piggy--as she did in Muppet Snow White--as a pig who is actually attractive and always the object of affection and adoration from all of the other male Muppets. Having Spamela be the stereotypical dumb blonde and Miss Piggy actually being smart and together and clever would also be a terrific way to pair these two characters.